In the last post we looked at the first of 5 classroom management strategies…
1. Regain perspective – tomorrow is a new day!
2. Reflect – what happened in the lead up to my day going pear shaped? Are there any routines or habits that are causing the results you are seeing?
3. Refocus – what are you going to try and do differently?
and now for the last two:
4. Relate
Talk to someone who is outside the profession about something that is completely unrelated to school and teaching. One of the biggest problems I see in the teaching profession is that teachers become so myopic and insular. Teachers hang out with teachers on the weekends, all they talk about in the staff room is what this student is up to and even when they go out for a staff dinner all they do is talk about students.
One of the healthiest things you can do is talk to someone about anything other teaching or classroom management. It will take your mind off your woes and give you another focus for a while
5. Rest
Don’t lose sleep over this – your students aren’t! after you have regained some perspective, reflected on your day, refocused on what you are going to do differently and related to someone outside the teaching profession get a good night’s sleep. Your best chance of not repeating the dramas of today is to go back refreshed, full of anticipation that tomorrow things will be different.
So to recap the 5 R’s of bouncing back after a bad day:
- Regain Perspective
- Reflect
- Refocus
- Relate
- Rest
What would you add to this list?
